Photos and stories from the Northern California Coast, local movie theater listings and other stuff.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Who Cares What The People Think About Their Police Chief?

After much support from the public to extend his contract with the city, Eureka City Manager David Tyson fired Chief Garr Nielsen today.

Nielsen out at EPDThe Times-Standard
Posted: 06/24/2011 12:15:13 PM PDT
“Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen said he was fired this morning. Nielsen said City Manager David Tyson met with him at the Police Department at about 11 a.m. to inform Nielsen that he was being fired without cause due to “differing management styles.” Under Nielsen’s contract with the city, he is due six month’s severance pay if fired without cause.
Hired in 2007 by Tyson and tasked with reforming a department beleaguered by a string of officer-involved shootings, Nielsen had recently been named a finalist for a position as Bend, Ore.’s, chief of police. At a Eureka City Council meeting Tuesday, more than a dozen people addressed the council and urged it to extend Nielsen’s contract, which was set to expire in December 2013.
Nielsen said he was informed Thursday that he did not make the final cut for the position in Bend. He said today’s news that he was being let go by the city came as a total surprise.
”It’s completely out of the blue,” he said. “It caught me completely off guard.”
Attempts to contact city officials, including Tyson and Eureka Personnel Director Gary Bird, were not immediately successful.”